Underground loading machine and frame thereof



S. C. MOON May 22, 1956 UNDERGROUND LOADING MACHINE AND FRAME THEREOF 5 Sheets-Sheet. 1

Filed May 29, 1952 s. c. MOON 2,746,597

UNDERGROUND LOADING MACHINE AND FRAME THEREOF May 22, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 29, 1952 O@ mm INVENTOR; STERLING CMooN, BY

May 22, 1956 S. C. MOON UNDERGROUND LOADING MACHINE AND FRAME THEREOF Filed May .29, 1952 5 Sheets-Shae t 3 Fig. 6

INVENTOR,

STERLING C. MooN,

HTTX

United States Patent UNDERGROUND LOADING-MACHINE AND FRAME THEREOF Sterling C. Moon, Worthington, Ohio, assignor to The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Ohio Application May 29, 1952,Serial No. 290,693

6 Claims. (Cl. 198-204) This invention relates to a loading machine adapted particularlyfor underground operation, for example, in a coal mine, to gather coal Whichhas been previously undercut and shot or otherwise'loosened and deliver the same to a receptacle, suchas a conveyer shuttle car, or the like.

An object of the invention therefore is to provide improved apparatusofthe above mentionedtype, including improved main frame and'trough construction.

In carryingvout the foregoing object it is another object of the invention to provide such an improvedloading machine which includes an improved main frame, or to provide such improved frame per se, which has alongitudinally extending trough including a removable bottom, which bottom preferably, but not necessarily, is formed by an inverted channel member adapted to cover one run of an endless conveyer travelingthrough the frame'and Which may have another run of the endless conveyer traveling above it for conveying material through the trough.

Another object of the invention is to providean improved loading machine including an improved main frame, or the main frame per se, wherein the main frame includes spaced meansvthat form spaced side walls of a conveyer trough that extend longitudinally along the frame and between which there is'received a removable member that forms the bottom of the trough.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter the novel features and combinations'being set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in.plan with parts brokenaway of-a loader including the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view in elevation of thelloaders as seen in Fig. 1;

Figs. 3 and 4 placed end to end constitute a view in section with parts broken away of frames, trough structure, and parts of the loader associated with them, and

' also showing the endless conveyer of the loader in elevaa continuation-in-part of my application Serial No. 754,-

516, filed June 13, 1947, and nowiPatent No. 2,591,584, dated April 1, 1952, for an Underground Loading Machine. It is to be understood that,'unless otherwise so illustrated or described, the construction and operation of the machine of this application followsaone or both of the disclosures, above identifiedyandthat only the subject matter pertinent to this invention is discussed :herein in detail.

2,746,597 Patented May 22, 1956 Briefly described, the loading machine, shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, is a low elongated'four-wheeled vehicle having an endless chain and flight conveyer 10 extending longitudinally thereon. A gathering head 11 at the front end of the machine gathers coal and loads it on to the conveyer 10 which conveys the coal rearwardly and discharges it from the rear end 12 of the machine into any suitable receptacle or conveyer apparatus.

The frame structure of the machine is of the extensible type in which a boom section 13 can be projected or retracted relative to a main frame 14 to change the overall length of the working run 15 of the conveyer 10 while maintaining uniform tension of the conveyer 10 and projecting and retracting the gathering head 11 which is carried at the. front end of the boom 13.

The loader includes two power driven front wheels 16 which are reversible to' propel the machine in forward or rearward directions. These wheels 16 are mounted to swing about vertical axes through almost to a tandem position indicated by dot-dash lines in Fig. l of the drawings in which position they may be employed to cause the front or gathering end of the machine to swing laterally in either direction. The wheels 16 are, of course, locked in this tandem position when the vehicle is'to be swung laterally and when the vehicle is to be propelled forwardly or rearwardly they are locked in their parallel position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. l.

The rear end of the loader, during travel, is supported by a pair of vertically adjustable steering wheels 17, but for loading operations it is usually supported by a jack 18 at one rear corner. of the machine which is swung to a vertical position and anchoredbetween the mine floor and roof in such position that material spilled from the the rear end 12 of theloader will be discharged into a mine conveyer, shuttle car or the like. When the jack '18 is thus anchored for a gathering and loading operation, as it usually is when such operation is to be carried out, the rear steering wheels 17 are elevated from the mine floor and thewheels 16.are swung to the tandem position indicated by dot-dash lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings, in which position they may be employed to swing the loader about the vertical axis of the jack 18 to position the gathering head 11.to attack and gather coal that has been previously undercut and shot, or otherwise loosened After each such attack the gathering head laterally to againposition the gathering head to attack coal until coal over a wide area in a mine room has been loaded.

The main frame 14 of the loading machine is an elongated generally horizontally extending box-like structure, built up of a number of welded or otherwise rigidly attachedparts including a pair of elongated longitudinally extending laterally spaced bottom or base channels 19 that have theirchannel sides facing each other (see Fig. 6.) Mounted on top of the channels 19 and rigidly attached thereto, as by welding are laterally spaced upstanding top plates 20. The channels 19 and plates 20 cooperate to provide the upright side walls of the boxlike main frame 14. The bottom inwardly extending flanges of the channels 19 are rigidly connected together .by cross plates 21 which constitute the bottom of said side plates 20 and which adjacent their bottoms extend parallel and vertical. Thebottoms of these side walls or plates 23 are bent outwardly and are welded, as indicated at 24 in Fig. 6 of the drawings, to the inwardly extending upper webs or flanges of channels 19. Plates 20 cooperate with the walls 23 to form box-like structures, one of which extends along the top edge or side of each of the bottom or base channels 19 to form rigid box-like sides of the trough 22.

At spaced intervals along the main frame 14 there are cross-members 25 in the form of tubes, or the like, which extend between and are rigidly connected to the top flange portions of the bottom base channels 19 and the vertical portions of the trough side walls 23. These cross-members 25 connect the intermediate portion of the main frame side members and they act to support other frame structure and a removable bottom pan 26 of the trough 22, which bottom pan 26 is of inverted channel shape and has its side upright webs, walls or flanges 27 in close frictional engagement with the vertical portions of the trough side walls 23.

The cross-members 25 support a pair of spaced longitudinally extending strips or plates 28 which extend inwardly into the trough 22 at its bottom and which are each welded along one edge to the bottom upright edge of the trough side wall 23. Cross-members 25 also support a pair of longitudinally extending bars 29. Bars 29 support the chain of conveyer while strips 28 carry and guide the ends of its flights while the conveyer 10 travels through the main frame 14 along a non-material conveying or return run. The main function of bars 29 is to aid the elongated strips 28 in supporting the chain 10, but the bars 29 may be omitted. The inverted channel or pan 26 may be readily removed from between the trough walls 23 by simply lifting it vertically out of the trough, thus providing for inspection through the substantially open bottom of the trough 22 of those parts of the machine carried on the interior of main frame 14. Furthermore, said bottom pan 26 cooperates with the strips 28 upon which its side flanges may rest, to provide a housing through which the above mentioned non-material conveying run of the conveyer 10 may travel. Thus, the bottom pan 26 provides a housing for at least part of the return run of the endless chain and flight conveyer 10, hereinafter described in more detail, and it forms a closed bottom for the trough 22 over which the working run of the conveyer 10 travels.

Adjacent its rear end 12 the main frame 14 carries a conveyer tail shaft and roller assembly 30, a cross-member 21 similar to cross-members 25 and a permanent conveyer bottom section or plate 32, that extends forwardly toward the inverted channel bottom pan 26. This plate 32 is welded to both walls 23, the cross-member 31 and at its front end it carries a tongue 33 that extends forwardly below the top of pan 26. Because pan 26 rests upon the tongue 33 it will not become distorted downwardly, and because the rear end of pan 26 abuts the front edge of plate 32, rearward movement of the pan 26 is impossible unless the pan 26 is lifted.

The spaced elongated strips or plates 28 do not extend the full length of the pan 26 and adjacent but spaced forwardly of their front ends there are shorter strips 34 (Figs. 3 and 5) which have the same function as strips or plates 28 and which, broadly, may be considered as parts of the spaced elongated strips that support the conveyer 1i and the inverted pan 26. The front end of pan 26 abuts a vertical cross-plate 35 of the main frame 14 which prevents forward movement of said pan 26 unless it is lifted as above described. The bottom of trough 22 forward of the cross-plate 35 is formed by a generally horizontal cross-plate 36 that extends between the Walls 23 and is welded thereto. At its rear end 12 the main frame 14 includes laterally extending wings 37 welded along their inner edges to the plates and along their outer edges to tubes 38. These wings and tubes form bumpers and protectors for the machine and jack 18 is carried by suitable structure associated with one of them.

The boom frame 13 telescopes within the main frame 14 and this boom frame includes a pair of channel members 39 spaced apart by a plurality of tubes 40 welded at their ends to the channels 39. Channels 39 have their top and bottom flanges 41 extending between and overlapping the flanges of the channels 19 of main frame 14 and the boom frame 13 is carried for longitudinal adjustment between these channels. A bottom plate 42 connects the bottoms of channels 39. Adjacent its front end each main frame channel 19 carries a slide block 43 that projects toward the center of the main frame 14 and between the top and bottom flanges 41 of one of the boom frame channels 39 and at its rear end the boom frame 13 is carried by a pair of slide blocks 44 mounted upon a cross shaft 45 attached to the boom frame 13 through the channels 39. Slide blocks 44 extend laterally outwardly from the rear end of the boom frame and project between the inwardly extending flanges of main frame channels 19. It will thus be seen that boom frame 13 can be adjusted longitudinally with respect to main frame 14 and that it is supported at its front by the slide blocks 43 which are carried by the main frame 14 and at its rear by the slide blocks 44 which are carried by boom frame 13. The above described telescoping and slide block features are described and claimed in my application, Serial No. 115,905, above identified.

Power driven chain mechanism is provided for adjusting the boom frame 13 rectilinearly relative to the main frame 14. This power driven mechanism is disclosed in detail in the patent to Arthur L. Lee, No. 2,589,827, dated March 18, 1952, and it is shown here as including a hydraulic motor 46 (see Fig. 1) which drives a shaft 47 (see Fig. 4) through driving mechanism including a chain and final drive sprocket 48. Shaft 47 carries spaced sprockets 49, one of which is indicated in Fig. 4 of the drawings and each of which cooperates with one of a pair of chains 50 anchored at opposite ends to the boom channels 39. Chains 50 each extends along the top of one of the boom channels 39 and under a pair of spaced hold-down rollers 51 carried on pins 52 that extend between ears of a bracket 53 and the top side wall plate 20 0f the main frame. Rollers 51 retain the chains 50 in proper engagement with the sprockets 49. It will be seen that when the shaft 47 and sprockets 49 are driven counterclockwise, as viewed in Fig. 4 of the drawings, that the boom frame 13 will be extended and when the shaft 47 and sprockets 49 are driven clockwise that the boom frame 13 will be telescoped into the main frame 14.

The gathering head 11 includes a main frame 54 that is pivotally mounted upon the front end of the boom frame 13 for swinging movement or adjustment about a horizontal axis provided by brackets 55 on the boom frame 13 and a pivot pin 56. This swinging adjustment of the gathering head 11 is accomplished by a hydraulic motor, not shown. A boom trough or pan 57, which is quite long, extends from the gathering head 11 to adjacent the rear end of main frame trough 22 when the boom frame 22 is retracted and it overlaps the trough 22 and rides in it. The front end of this boom trough or pan 57 is pivotally attached to the gathering head frame 54 through lugs 58 carried by the pan 57 and pins 59.

The sides of the portion of the conveyor trough formed by the head frame 54 each carries a plate 60 that overlaps the adjacent side wall of the boom trough or pan 57 and there is a cross-member 61 that extends below the bottom of pan 57. By these means the trough pan 57 is flexibly connected to the gathering head 11 and it receives all of the material being conveyed rearwardly through the trough portion formed by the head frame 54.

' When the boom frame 13 is moved rectilinearly the boom trough pan 57 will, of course, follow the rectilinear movement of the gathering head and the boom frame 13 to maintain the rear discharge edge of the boom or pan 57 in sliding contact with the trough 22 at all times. The sloping side walls of the boom or trough 57 are cut and provided with cover plates, as indicated in 62 'in'Fig. 1 of the drawings, to give flexibility theretoalong a transverse axis. This feature is described '-and claimed in Patent No. 2,597,345 of Arthur L. Lee for an Underground Loading Machine including'a flexible trough.

It may be here noted that when the bottom pan 26 is to be removed from the main frame 14 that the trough or pan 57 and at least that portion of the working run 15 of conveyor that is above the pan 26 must be removed in order that the pan 57 may be lifted from the main frame. The workingrun of conveyor10 may be removed from the conveyer trough 22 by parting it at any point between a head shaft 65 and the tail shaft 30, and

the trough or pan 57 may then be removed entirely from the machine or its rear end may be swung upwardly so that the bottom pan 26 may be lifted out of the main frame 14.

When the loading machine is operating to gather and load coal, a pair of endless gathering conveyers 63 on the gathering head 11 gather and feed coal rearwardly over a plate 64 of gathering head frame 54 and into the conveyer trough portion thereof. The working run 15 of endless conveyer 10, which at its front end is reeved over a sprocket on the shaft 65, then conveys this coal rearwardly through the trough portion formed by frame 54 of the boom, the trough pan 57, and the main frame trough 22 including the inverted channel pan 26 and spills the coal at its rear end. The endless conveyer 10 at the rear end of trough 22 travels around the roller and shaft 30 and starts its return run to the head sprocket and shaft 65 in the gathering head 11. As the conveyer 10 leaves roller 30 it passes over a support plate 66 in main frame 14 and it then travels through the passageway or housing formed by the inverted channel pan 26, strips 28 and 34 and support bars 29 below the working run 15 to drive shaft 67 that carries a sprocket 68. Shaft 67 and sprocket 68 are driven by a sprocket 69 (see Fig. 1) which is driven by a chain from a sprocket 70 controlled by a clutch mounted in a housing 71 to which a primary electric driving motor 72 is attached.

Upon leaving drive sprocket 68, the conveyer 10 travels rearwardly over strips or plates 73 in the boom 13, similar to strips or plates 28, to and around a rear shaft and roller 74 carried by the boom fame 13, from which it travels forwardly over the bottom plate 43 of the boom 13 to the head sprocket and shaft 65. It will be seen that because the drive shaft 67 and tail shaft and roller 30 are carried by the main frame 14, and shaft and roller 74 and head shaft and sprocket 65 are carried by the boom 13 that the length of conveyer 10 will remain constant for all positions of adjustment of boom 13 with respect to the main frame 14 while the length of the working run 15 of conveyer 10 will follow the rectilinearly adjusted positions of the various elements which constitute the entire trough for the working run 15.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that the loading machine described includes a main frame that is of improved construction generally and one in which a conveyer trough that extends longitudinally thereof is formed to include a removable bottom member over which a conveyer trough or pan attached to the gathering head as well as the working run of the endless conveyer may slide.

It will also be seen that the removable bottom member of the trough in the main frame cooperates to provide a box-like passageway or housing through which a return run of the conveyer may travel and that when the removable bottom member of the trough in the main frame is removed that access to the parts of the loader housed within the main frame may be had through the substantially open bottom of the trough in the main frame.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the details and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended and applicant -wishes therefore not to be restricted to the precise construction herein disclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of the invention, what is desired to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A relatively long narrow main frame for an extensible loader apparatus including a pair of longitudinally extending spaced bottom channel members having their channel sides facing each other and forming tracks in which support elements of a second frame travel, an elongated member extending'along the top of each of said bottom channel members adapted to form spaced side walls of a trough extending longitudinally ofsaid frame, longitudinally extending support means on said frame adapted to support a run of an endless conveyer travelling between said spaced wall means, and inverted channel means forming a removable trough bottom between said spaced wall means and above said longitudinally extending support means over which another run of said conveyer may-travel to convey material through said trough.

2. I A main frame of an extensible loader including a pair of elongated laterally spaced generally parallel base channels having their channel sides facing each other to provide spaced ways in which support elements of a boom may travel, a pair of elongated box-like members one on top of each of said base channels adapted to form the sides of a conveyer trough, plate means interconnecting and spacing the bottoms of said base channels, a plurality of tubular members rigidly interconnecting the tops of said spaced base channels and the bottoms of said boxlike members, strip means extending longitudinally of said frame between said box-like members and carried by said tubular members for supporting a non-conveying run of a conveyer as it travels thereover, and an elongated inverted channel member removably carried between said box-like members forming the bottom of said trough, said bottom being spaced above said strip means for providing a way through which said non-conveying run of said conveyer may travel and over which a conveying run of said conveyer may travel, said inverted channel member being removable to permit ready access to the interior of said frame through said trough.

3. A main frame of an extensible loader including a pair of elongated laterally spaced generally parallel base channels having their channel sides facing each other to provide spaced ways in which support elements of a boom may travel, a pair of elongated wall members one on top of each of said base channels adapted to form the sides of a conveyer trough, means rigidly interconnecting the tops of said base channels, strip means extending longitudinally of said frame between said elongated wall members carried by said interconnecting means for supporting a non-conveying run of a conveyer as it travels thereover and an elongated inverted channel member removably carried between said elongated wall members forming the bottom of said trough, said bottom being spaced above said strip means for providing a way through which said non-conveying run of said conveyer may travel and over which a conveying run of said conveyer may travel, said inverted channel member being readily removable to permit ready access to the interior of said frame through said trough.

4. A main frame of an extensible loader including a pair of elongated laterally spaced generally parallel base channels having their channel sides facing each other to provide spaced ways in which support elements of a boom may travel, a pair of elongated wall members one on top of each of said base channels adapted to form the sides of a conveyer trough, means rigidly interconnecting the tops of said base channels, support means for supporting a nonconveying run of a conveyer as the latter travels between said wall members, and an elongated bottom member removably carried between said elongated wall members forming the bottom of said trough, said bottom being spaced above said support means for providing a Way through which said non-conveying run of said conveyer may travel and over which a conveying run of said conveyer may travel, said bottom member being removable to permit access to the interior of said frame through said trough.

5. A main frame of an extensible loader including a pair of elongated laterally spaced generally parallel base channels having their channel sides facing each other to provide spaced ways in which support elements of a boom may travel, a pair of elongated wall members one on top of each of said base channels adapted to form the sides of a conveyer trough, means rigidly interconnecting said base channels, and an elongated bottom member removably carried between said elongated wall members forming the bottom of said trough, said bottom member being removable to permit access to the interior of said frame through said trough.

6. The main frame of an extensible loader including means forming a pair of laterally spaced longitudinally extending side frame members, each of said members including a base portion formed of a long channel member,

said channel members facing each other and providing tracks in which support elements of a second frame may travel, a box-like means extending along the top of each of said base channels adding longitudinal rigidity thereto, said box-like means forming the sides of an open bottomed conveyer trough, means rigidly interconnecting said base channel members and means providing support for carrying a removable trough bottom element between said boxlike members and adjacent the top of said channel members, said bottom being removable to permit access to the interior of said frame through said conveyer trough.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

